There are hundreds of people throughout the United States, both men and women, who have made the bold claim that they are Navy SEALs, when in fact they are not. There are many reasons why people make such claims. Many individuals will claim to be a Navy SEAL in order to gain attention or to receive special perks at bars or other places of business. Many of them will make these claims in order to acquire a job.
The truth of the matter is that there is a very simple way that you can determine if a person who claims to be a Navy SEAL is a Navy SEAL or ever was. All you need is their full name. With a resource like: http://www.pownetwork.org you can quickly determine if a person is a real Navy SEAL or is an imposter.
Claiming to be a Navy SEAL when you are not one is very disrespectful. It is disrespectful to those who are Navy SEALs, to those you claim to be a Navy SEAL to, and to your Country. If you know someone who is claiming to be a Navy SEAL but have been proven to be false, you should report them to a non-profit agency like the one listed above.
Some people who have discovered a friend had been telling them lies about being a Navy SEAL have taken matters into their hands and have started to out their lies. As you can see in the case of one Todd Baker from Ohio. Todd Baker was outed by his best friends, family, and the POW Network as having never served as a Navy SEAL. You can read the complete story of deceit and lies here.
May 2nd, 2011 - 7:09 pm
I truly need your help. I have a 22 year old daughter that has been stalked by a man for the last year and now she says she is in love with him, they got to talking because she told him her brother (my son) is or was in the navy. This man is 49 yrs old and told her that he had been a seal and has told her many stories I believe are all lies and has convinced her that we are dangerous and she has now left home. she met him in her remedial math class at the local tech college, and he has now been banned from the school and we have been told that he has done this with 3 other young women. I believe she is in danger, she has never dated, a christian, taken a vow to be pure until marriage and is now living in a camper and he comes to stay with her. My heart is broke and I don’t know how to stop this man that stood and got in our faces and told us we couldn’t do anything to make him get out of her life. IN the mean time he told her that snipers were watching him to keep him safe and they would kill anyone that came near. His name is William David James, 49 from Warner Robins, Ga living at 105 Cardinal Ridge, Kathleen, Ga with his parents and 17 year old son. How do I find out the truth about this man? I will give you my phone number, anything I need to get the truth.
May 12th, 2011 - 2:35 pm
Can you confirm that Frank Burgess is a former Navy Seal as claimed. Veteran: Daryl Forehand, USN
September 3rd, 2011 - 12:22 am
Donna, Daryl,
A while back I read in an ABC news article about a priest who was telling people he was a former SEAL, and a real former SEAL heard about him, smelled BS, and called him out. The real guy’s name is Don Shipley. He is one of two former SEALs (the other is Steve Robinson), who has access to the records of ALL personnel to ever be awarded the title by the United States Navy. Both men are on the board of directors at POWNetwork.org, and are very well respected within their community. If you ever have a doubt about someone’s claims as a SEAL, look these guys up on Facebook and they will be HAPPY to verify it for you. If you wish to have the verification in a more official and written capacity, write to the Naval Special Warfare Command in Coronado, CA, and request a confirmation of the individual’s graduation from BUD/S under the Freedom of Information Act. They will actually write you back with the results and I have seen such letters myself.
September 3rd, 2011 - 12:26 am
Donna,
Don and Steve will also have some ideas about how to handle this dirtbag once you’ve exposed him as a fake. I can already tell you that he was never a SEAL though from the fact that he was in a remedial math class. SEALs are EXPERTS in demolition, which requires a firm grasp on some pretty tough math to avoid blowing yourself or your teammates up. Anyone who can’t handle the math gets flunked out during demo training…that is if they got high enough scores on the ASVAB intelligence test to get into training in the first place. The man you describe acts in a manner typical of the rest of the phonies I’ve been hearing about and is also typical of a amateur conman/human parasite. You need to get word from the real former SEALs that he is fake, present it to your daughter, convince her of how mentally unstable he actually is, and get a restraining order against him!
September 3rd, 2011 - 12:31 am
Lastly, find out if the guy has a criminal record. Chances are he does!
December 22nd, 2011 - 2:12 pm
Need to know if anyone knows of a navy seal from arkansas who supposedly went to annapolis and served 3 tours in the early 70′s name is gary walker. thank you
December 23rd, 2011 - 11:12 am
The reason i want to know is he is claiming that and much more. Thank YOu